Haslingden see off Rammy in Bentgate derby
IN Division 1, Haslingden enjoyed a 66-run victory when they entertained Ramsbottom at Bentgate last weekend.
Rammy won the toss and elected to field first, enjoying an early breakthrough when opener Hassy opener Matthew Griffin fell for 3, 4-1.
Mini Bhada and Leighton Friend took Haslingden to 50 before Friend (17) fell, but Bhada went on to make 52 and with useful contributions from Alex Coleman (24) and Lewis McIntosh (36), Hasligden managed 177 all out.
Best with the ball for Rammy was Josh Dentith with 3-21.
In reply, Alex Olpin (22) and Kieren Grimshaw (21) played their way in but failed to build anything substantial and they lacked sufficient support as the visitors were dismissed for 111 in the 36th over.
Leaders Darwen consolidated their advantage with a win at Todmorden while second-placed Clitheroe also won on the road at struggling Greenmount.
Lowerhouse beat Burnley by nine wickets while Rochdale ensured Middleton remain bottom of the table after they picked up a one-wicket win at Towncroft and Norden tied with Walsden.
In Division 2, Enfield won by eight wickets as they entertained Bacup at Dill Hall Lane.
Bacup won the toss and opted to bat. Chiraq Khurana (67) and Charlie Gansler (39) had them in a decent position at 121-3 when Gansler was run out by Yasir Ali, but from there wickets fell regularly and they finished all out on 193. Faheem Basharat and Imran Rafiq both claimed three wickets apiece for Enfield.
The home side made light work of knocking out the required runs, despite losing Alfie Cook (9) and Rafiq (2) cheaply. Opener Lewis Wright struck an unbeaten 96 while Ali hit 68 off 66 balls to ease Enfield home.
Rawtenstall were beaten when they travelled to Colne’s Horsfield ground.
The visitors won the toss and batted first, but they struggled to get to grips with Geeth Kumara’s bowling and could only muster 143 all out, Ben Roscoe top-scoring with 26. Kumara finished with 8-23 off his 11 overs, five of which were maidens.
Kumara then proved instrumental with the bat as his unbeaten 37 saw Colne over the winning line in the 39th over.
The Great Harwood v Accrington derby went the way of the home side in an entertaining match at Cliffe Park on Sunday that yielded plenty of runs for both sides.
Great Harwood won the toss and opted to bat first, making 279-9 off their 50 overs.
Muhammad Ismheel Shakeel hit 43 as they recovered from 30-2 to move to 125 before he became the third wicket, lbw to James Hayhurst. By that time, Thikshila De
Silva was already well set having struck 56 runs himself. He fell for 60, caught Andrew Greenwood off Hayhurst’s bowling.
But with Reece Willets (39) and Chris Oddie’s unbeaten 57, Great Harwood were able to post a challenging tally.
Hayhurst’s two key wickets were complemented by Jacob Clarke’s return of 4-54 for Accrington.
In reply, the visitors made a fist of it, the innings underpinned by Ben Gorton’s 68, Hayhurst’s 43 and 28 off 15 balls from Yousuf Ali late in the day. But when Hayhurst was dismissed in the final over, Accrington had fallen just short, all out for 254.
Church and Oswaldtwistle enjoyed a comfortable victory against Nelson on home turf.
Nelson won the toss and opted to bat first, and after losing Ashir Imdad (12), Usman Tariq (55) and Neil Thompson (43) took them to 71 befire Thompson fell. From there, wickets fell rapidly and they were 93-8 at one point, only a late surge from Tariq taking them to 132 as no less than six batsmen all failed to score.
Best with the ball for Church was Andrew Bentley with 4-53, while Kelan Florentine claimed 3-53.
Church knocked off the required runs inside 33 overs, Levi Wolfenden scoring 30 and Sagar Vijay Trivedi 53.
Rishton were on the receiving end at Crompton, where the home side won the toss and batted first, running up a huge 335-4 from their 50 overs.
Pro Denis Louis topscored with 109, while Jake Hooson hit 56, Harry Dean 46, Mohammed Jamal 52 and Simon Wright 54.
The visitors were dismissed for 138 in reply, Richard Rostron top-scoring with 39.
Elsewhere, Littleborough kept up the pressure on Crompton at the top of the table with a narrow win at East Lancs.